Source: Sutter has option to take short or long-term deal from Penguins

Share this:

Negotiations between the Penguins and Brandon Sutter’s reps at Newport Sports continued on Monday, a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations said. Sutter the Penguins most prominent restricted free agent, elected against arbitration earlier this month.

The Penguins have proposed three different offers to Sutter, including a potential deal of at least four years Inside Pittsburgh Sports has learned.

However, if Sutter were to accept anything over a one year deal, it will be against the recommendations of his agents Don Meehan and Craig Oster.

Sutter’s agents believe the best route is to return on a one year deal and hit the open market next summer where they feel he could be a $5 million a year player.

One concern from the Sutter camp is that signing a deal beyond one year doesn’t give him any long-term security as he won’t be eligible for a no trade clause to kick in until the 2016-2017 season.

However, the player makes the call at the end of the day and we’ll see where this goes.

One team closely monitoring the Sutter situation is the Edmonton Oilers. They would be among the first in line to try to acquire Sutter via trade if the Penguins put him on the trade block, which isn’t their intention, at least yet.

If Sutter doesn’t agree to a deal beyond one year, though, the Penguins will have to give very strong consideration to trading Sutter at some point in the next year.

And trading Sutter might be the best move for both sides long-term. The Penguins could immediately replace Sutter with a cheaper option in Marcel Goc and the Penguins continue to struggle to maximize the talent around Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at wing, and the $4 million that it would take to sign Sutter long-term would be better served to be used in other areas.

Another team that kicked the tires on Sutter around the draft included the Colorado Avalanche.

There’s a player named Ryan O’Reilly in a contract dispute that sure would look great next to Crosby or Malkin, even at his price of $6 million+.

Trade Buzz: Thursday’s 1-for-1 trade of young underperforming players saw the Minnesota Wild acquire center Victor Rask from the Carolina Hurricanes for left winger Nino Niederreiter. Carolina did an excellent job of being able to get out of the Rask contract, who has three years remaining with a $4 million cap hit. Rask has 1 goal, 5 assists on the season, mirrored in a 22-game goal drought. The logic here for Minnesota is taking the chance on a playmaking center who can help fill a top-9 spot longer term if the Wild move on from Eric Staal. Minnesota is also playing the card that a change of scenery will benefit the 24-year old who posted a career-high 21 goals, 48 points in 2015-2016.

Niederreiter’s trade value was stunted because of his contract, where he has three years left on his deal with a $5.25 million cap hit. Niederreiter is a player who is extremely hard to play against, drives possession well, and has three 20 goal seasons over his last four full seasons. Injuries (18 goals in 63 games) kept him from a 4th straight 20-goal season in 17-18. The Niederreiter acquisition also sets up as great insurance for the Hurricanes if they can’t resign Micheal Ferland. In the short-term, Carolina’s center situation is a mess with Jordan Staal sidelined with a concussion, but they’re getting the better player who fits the identity they’re trying to establish upfront, especially on the wings where they’ve identified the need for Patric Hornqvist type players.